Lithuanian prosecutors have decided to clear Dzmitry Kanaplianik, the chief of the Belarusian Investigation Committee’s department in Minsk, of suspicion of attempting to smuggle munitions across the state border.

In September, 2014 Mr Kanaplianik and his wife were driving back from Lithuania. The customs service of Medininkai stopped their Honda CR-V car on the road to Belarus. Several tens of 9 mm Luger cartridges were found in the car. The couple was detained and charged with illegal carrying of live munition.

The Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office said on Tuesday that the suspicions were dropped after witness interviews and other procedural actions in the framework of the investigation did not reveal any evidence to validate the initial suspicions of the persons intentionally trafficking the munitions, delfi.lt reports.

Colonel Kanaplianik refused to comment on his arrest saying that the Investigation Committee’s website provides all the necessary details. But there is no specified information on the website: it only says that Mr Kanaplianik has been back in Belarusi and taken up his duties.

According to a recent press release by the Belarusian Investigation Committee, Dzmitry Kanaplianik may have been retaliated for his professional activity. The fact that Lithuanians carefully inspected his car is accounted for ‘enemies’ prompting’, the Committee stated.